IN ENGLISHA year ago I got seeds of wild madder (Rubia peregrina) from a friendly reader of my blog from France, who had collected them from the wild. Thank you again, Yvonne. I sowed them then in April, the same time as I sowed dyer's madder seeds (Rubia tinctoria), which germinated in warm in about three weeks, but these wild madder seeds never germinated. I kept the sowing pot all summer and stored it in the root cellar for the winter along with my other plants and seedlings which I hadn't had time or place to plant outside. A month ago I took all the plants outside from the cellar and three weeks ago I noticed something green coming up in the Rubia peregrina pot. First I didn't dare to hope they are the right plants, not weeds, but now it is clear that they are seedlings belonging to Rubia /Galium-family. I'm so happy!For some reason these Rubia pregrina seeds needed cold stratifying before they germinated, unlike Rubia tinctoria. I don't know if this is typical for the wild madder, and why it germinated differently than ordinary madder.EDITHere is a link to a study in Iran about germination of madder, Study Methods of Dormancy Breaking and Germination of Common Madder (Rubia tinctorum L. ) Seed in Laboratory Conditions

that's interesting - or maybe the wild madder seeds were older? I often have it that fresh seeds germinate immediately, even though books say the variety needs stratification. it does - when the seeds are older...I exchanged madder seeds with a german dyer - so now I have at least 60 seedlings sprouting away - if all of them make it, my garden will be half full with madder in a while:) enjoy the spring!

Hi Bettina, you are right, many times older seeds need more to germinate than fresh ones. These seeds were not fresh, as I got them in March and they were from previous autumn, so they were dry.You are going to have enough madder to do all kinds of experiments and dyeing, very nice for you:)Spring is my favourite time, all kinds of spring flowers are now flowering even though the temperature is still freezing almost every night, but it is still spring and not winter any more:)Green in the spring is the best.

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WHY USE NATURAL DYES

"We can keep the knowledge of their use alive, as well as regaining for ourselves a vital contact with the natural world. The ability to correctly identify the plants needed, to understand their growth stages sufficiently well to be able to obtain the greatest dye, offer both challenge and pleasure."

We sell our yarns, mitten kits, knitted things and my husband's photographs at the market Kauppatori in Helsinki. From the beginning of October until mid May my husband will be at the market only on Saturdays, unless the weather is very bad.